Month: October 2014

Thanks to Joseph Arndt for performing my Chanson Variations at Grace Church in Newark. At the same venue on November 16th at 4 PM, Arndt leads St. Dunstan’s Choir in the premiere of my Mass for Men’s Voices.

Giacomo Fiore presents four works for electric guitar by living American composers – Eve Beglarian, Larry Polansky. Christian Wolff, and Anthony Porter – on his latest release IV (available here).Fiore is an ardent proponent of the electric guitar’s potential as a concert instrument. Indeed, there’s not a whiff of rock to be found on IV, but here and there jazz voicings make welcome appearances. Throughout, all of the composers treat the electric guitar as the versatile instrument that it is, capable of many timbral variations and playing techniques and, yes, intricate voicings that eschew boxy barre chords. Fiore’s playing is sensitive, featuring subtle dynamic shadings and pitch bending. I’ve been enjoying spinning the vinyl version of the recording, but if you prefer digital it is also available in downloadable formats on Bandcamp.

Pianist Matthew Shipp has recorded voluminously. Even with such a substantial discography, on his latest recording for Thirsty Ear, I’ve Been to Many Places, he shows himself still capable of sharing surprises. It isn’t in terms of wholesale changes of style or new technical innovations, but rather in matters of emphasis. Strongly, almost obstinately, reiterated harmonies abound. There are elaborate deconstructions of standards such as “Summertime” and “Tenderly,” and exquisitely wrought voicings are found on “Naima” and “Where is the Love?”. These are tunes that Shipp has recorded previously, usually in ensemble settings; the care the pianist takes to delineate these new renditions from previous incarnations is noteworthy.

There are also several originals included in the set. “Waltz” has a breathless charm. “Brain Stem Grammar” supplies an appealingly swinging angularity. “Cosmic Wave” employs weighty sonorities and spacious verticals to stirring effect. “Life Cycle” displays a neoclassical grandeur, replete with passages in octaves and portentous bass lines. And “Blue Astral Bodies” balances Shipp’s interest in traditional elements of jazz grammar with his more outward bound excursions. I’ve Been to Many Places serves as an excellent introduction to this multifaceted artist. It will also be prized by those already familiar with the pianist’s work as an addition to his catalogue that points to new directions in his playing. It is exciting to contemplate where Shipp may go next: one hopes and expects that he will continue to keep us guessing.